Kurds in Azerbaijan: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
Common religion (unlike the majority of Kurds, Kurds of Azerbaijan are predominantly [[Shi'a]] Muslim like most Azeris)<ref>Расим Мусабеков. [http://www.sakharov-center.ru/publications/azrus/az_012.htm Становление независимого азербайджанского государства и этнические меньшинства]. Sakharov Centre.</ref> and shared elements of culture led to rapid assimilation of Azerbaijan's Kurdish population already by the end of the nineteenth century. Statistical data from 1886 shows that Kurds of [[Jabrayil Rayon|Jabrayil]], [[Agdash Rayon|Arash]] and partly [[Kalbajar Rayon|Javanshir]] spoke [[Azerbaijani language|Azeri]] as a first language. According to the first Soviet census of 1926, only 3,100 (or 8.3%) of Azerbaijan's Kurdish population (which at the time numbered 37,200 people) spoke Kurdish.<ref>Н. Г. Волкова, Этнические процессы в Закавказье в XIX-XX вв., "Кавказский этнографический сборник", IV, М., 1969.</ref> In the 1920s, the Kurdish community in Azerbaijan was considerably diminished, when many of them moved to [[Armenia]] where Kurdish villages were created. <ref>Encyclopedia of World Cultures, David Levinson, G.K. Hall & Co. (1991), p.225</ref> About the same time Azerbaijan's Kurds had their own region called [[Kurdistan Uyezd|Red Kurdistan]] in the Lachin region, which was to the West of Karabakh. In fact, Lachin with the principal towns Kalbajar, Qubadli and [[Zangilan]] and the administrative sub-divisions of Karakushlak, Koturli, Murad-Khanli and Kurd-Haji were mostly inhabitated by Kurds.<ref>The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview, Philip G. Kreyenbroek, Stefan Sperl, Routledge, (1992), ISBN 0415072654, p.201</ref> In 1930 it was abolished and most remaining Kurds were progressively recategorized as ''[[Azerbaijani people|Azerbaijani]]''.<ref>Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War, Thomas De Waal, NYU Press, ISBN 0814719457, p.133</ref> In late 1930s Soviet authorities deported most of the Kurdish population of Azerbaijan and Armenia to [[Kazakhstan]], and Kurds of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] also became victims of [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]’s purges in 1944.<ref>{{ru icon}} [http://www.hist.ru/kurdy.html Партизаны на поводке.]</ref> Starting from 1961, there were efforts by deportees for the restoration of their rights, spearheaded by Mehmet Babayev who lived in [[Baku]], which proved to be futile.<ref>{{tr icon}} [http://www.scribd.com/doc/16800029/Kurdistana-SorKIZIL-Kurdistan Kurdistana Sor]</ref> |
Common religion (unlike the majority of Kurds, Kurds of Azerbaijan are predominantly [[Shi'a]] Muslim like most Azeris)<ref>Расим Мусабеков. [http://www.sakharov-center.ru/publications/azrus/az_012.htm Становление независимого азербайджанского государства и этнические меньшинства]. Sakharov Centre.</ref> and shared elements of culture led to rapid assimilation of Azerbaijan's Kurdish population already by the end of the nineteenth century. Statistical data from 1886 shows that Kurds of [[Jabrayil Rayon|Jabrayil]], [[Agdash Rayon|Arash]] and partly [[Kalbajar Rayon|Javanshir]] spoke [[Azerbaijani language|Azeri]] as a first language. According to the first Soviet census of 1926, only 3,100 (or 8.3%) of Azerbaijan's Kurdish population (which at the time numbered 37,200 people) spoke Kurdish.<ref>Н. Г. Волкова, Этнические процессы в Закавказье в XIX-XX вв., "Кавказский этнографический сборник", IV, М., 1969.</ref> In the 1920s, the Kurdish community in Azerbaijan was considerably diminished, when many of them moved to [[Armenia]] where Kurdish villages were created. <ref>Encyclopedia of World Cultures, David Levinson, G.K. Hall & Co. (1991), p.225</ref> About the same time Azerbaijan's Kurds had their own region called [[Kurdistan Uyezd|Red Kurdistan]] in the Lachin region, which was to the West of Karabakh. In fact, Lachin with the principal towns Kalbajar, Qubadli and [[Zangilan]] and the administrative sub-divisions of Karakushlak, Koturli, Murad-Khanli and Kurd-Haji were mostly inhabitated by Kurds.<ref>The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview, Philip G. Kreyenbroek, Stefan Sperl, Routledge, (1992), ISBN 0415072654, p.201</ref> In 1930 it was abolished and most remaining Kurds were progressively recategorized as ''[[Azerbaijani people|Azerbaijani]]''.<ref>Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War, Thomas De Waal, NYU Press, ISBN 0814719457, p.133</ref> In late 1930s Soviet authorities deported most of the Kurdish population of Azerbaijan and Armenia to [[Kazakhstan]], and Kurds of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] also became victims of [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]’s purges in 1944.<ref>{{ru icon}} [http://www.hist.ru/kurdy.html Партизаны на поводке.]</ref> Starting from 1961, there were efforts by deportees for the restoration of their rights, spearheaded by Mehmet Babayev who lived in [[Baku]], which proved to be futile.<ref>{{tr icon}} [http://www.scribd.com/doc/16800029/Kurdistana-SorKIZIL-Kurdistan Kurdistana Sor]</ref> |
||
<gallery> |
|||
File:Colonel pesian.JPG|An example of Azeri Kurds, the Pesseyans were originally from the [[Nakhchivan]] region of Azerbaijan. |
|||
</gallery> |
|||
<!--Official Azerbaijani records claim only 12,000 Kurds, while Kurdish leaders estimate as much as 200,000. The problem is that the historical record of the Kurds in Azerbaijan is filled with lacunae.<ref>An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires, James Stuart Olson, Lee Brigance Pappas, Nicholas Charles Pappas, Greenwood Publishing Group, (1994), ISBN 0313274975, p.409</ref> For instance, in 1979 there was according to the census no Kurds recorded. <ref name="th">The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview, Philip G. Kreyenbroek, Stefan Sperl, Routledge, ISBN 0415072654, (1992), p.204</ref> Not only did [[Turkey]] and Azerbaijan pursue an identical policy against the Kurds, they even employed identical techniques like forced assimilation, manipulation of population figures, settlement of non-Kurds in areas predominantly Kurdish, suppression of publications and abolition of Kurdish as a medium of instruction in schools<ref name="th"/>. Kurdish historical figures such as [[Sherefxan Bidlisi]], [[Ehmedê Xanî]] and the [[Shaddadid]] dynasty as a whole were described as Azeris<ref name="th"/> Kurds who retained 'Kurdish' as their nationality on their internal passports as opposed to 'Azeri' were unable to find employment<ref name="th"/>.--> |
<!--Official Azerbaijani records claim only 12,000 Kurds, while Kurdish leaders estimate as much as 200,000. The problem is that the historical record of the Kurds in Azerbaijan is filled with lacunae.<ref>An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires, James Stuart Olson, Lee Brigance Pappas, Nicholas Charles Pappas, Greenwood Publishing Group, (1994), ISBN 0313274975, p.409</ref> For instance, in 1979 there was according to the census no Kurds recorded. <ref name="th">The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview, Philip G. Kreyenbroek, Stefan Sperl, Routledge, ISBN 0415072654, (1992), p.204</ref> Not only did [[Turkey]] and Azerbaijan pursue an identical policy against the Kurds, they even employed identical techniques like forced assimilation, manipulation of population figures, settlement of non-Kurds in areas predominantly Kurdish, suppression of publications and abolition of Kurdish as a medium of instruction in schools<ref name="th"/>. Kurdish historical figures such as [[Sherefxan Bidlisi]], [[Ehmedê Xanî]] and the [[Shaddadid]] dynasty as a whole were described as Azeris<ref name="th"/> Kurds who retained 'Kurdish' as their nationality on their internal passports as opposed to 'Azeri' were unable to find employment<ref name="th"/>.--> |
||
Revision as of 08:20, 12 May 2011
The presence of Kurds in Azerbaijan dated back to the 9th century. The area between Karabakh and Zangezur became inhabited by nomadic Kurdish tribes in the early nineteenth century, when a new wave of Kurdish migrants numbering 600 families led by Mihamed Sefi Siltan moved to the Karabakh Khanate from Persia. A smaller number of them also moved here in 1885 from the Ottoman Empire.[1] Eventually, this population became the majority in most parts of the region, particularly around Lachin (Laçîn in Kurdish), Kalbajar (Kelbecer), and Qubadli (Qûbadlî).
Common religion (unlike the majority of Kurds, Kurds of Azerbaijan are predominantly Shi'a Muslim like most Azeris)[2] and shared elements of culture led to rapid assimilation of Azerbaijan's Kurdish population already by the end of the nineteenth century. Statistical data from 1886 shows that Kurds of Jabrayil, Arash and partly Javanshir spoke Azeri as a first language. According to the first Soviet census of 1926, only 3,100 (or 8.3%) of Azerbaijan's Kurdish population (which at the time numbered 37,200 people) spoke Kurdish.[3] In the 1920s, the Kurdish community in Azerbaijan was considerably diminished, when many of them moved to Armenia where Kurdish villages were created. [4] About the same time Azerbaijan's Kurds had their own region called Red Kurdistan in the Lachin region, which was to the West of Karabakh. In fact, Lachin with the principal towns Kalbajar, Qubadli and Zangilan and the administrative sub-divisions of Karakushlak, Koturli, Murad-Khanli and Kurd-Haji were mostly inhabitated by Kurds.[5] In 1930 it was abolished and most remaining Kurds were progressively recategorized as Azerbaijani.[6] In late 1930s Soviet authorities deported most of the Kurdish population of Azerbaijan and Armenia to Kazakhstan, and Kurds of Georgia also became victims of Stalin’s purges in 1944.[7] Starting from 1961, there were efforts by deportees for the restoration of their rights, spearheaded by Mehmet Babayev who lived in Baku, which proved to be futile.[8]
-
An example of Azeri Kurds, the Pesseyans were originally from the Nakhchivan region of Azerbaijan.
References
- ^ Дмитрий Пирбари. Курды – исконные обитатели Ближнего и Среднего Востока. Kurdishcenter.ru.
- ^ Расим Мусабеков. Становление независимого азербайджанского государства и этнические меньшинства. Sakharov Centre.
- ^ Н. Г. Волкова, Этнические процессы в Закавказье в XIX-XX вв., "Кавказский этнографический сборник", IV, М., 1969.
- ^ Encyclopedia of World Cultures, David Levinson, G.K. Hall & Co. (1991), p.225
- ^ The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview, Philip G. Kreyenbroek, Stefan Sperl, Routledge, (1992), ISBN 0415072654, p.201
- ^ Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War, Thomas De Waal, NYU Press, ISBN 0814719457, p.133
- ^ Template:Ru icon Партизаны на поводке.
- ^ Template:Tr icon Kurdistana Sor